Harishchandra Ghat

Hari Hari Harishchandra!

People come to Varanasi to watch spiritual seekers bathing in the holy Ganges river. Some come to walk along the river and to view the ancient crumbling palaces. And others come to be cremated.

There are two main cremation sites in this holy city. Pictured is one of them: Harishchandra Ghat is the less active of the two but, regardless, if you're cremated (and then have your ashes floated down the Ganges) here, you get VIP access in the afterlife. And who doesn't want that?

As one of the men who works as the cremation site told me: "Burning is learning, cremation is education." I'm still not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds nice.

Generally photo taking is forbidden at the cremation sites, but, as I was told, when you're on a boat, "anything goes." So I snapped away.